In Sermon Illustrations: "Hold On"

He Just Held The Ball

Contributed by West Garner on Jun 29, 2009

HE JUST HELD THE BALL In the summers, we always played basketball at the YMCA. One game playing Ebenezer BC. 2 minutes left in last quarter. Score tied. They go down make basket. We come back and make basket. They call a timeout with 30 seconds to go. Out of time out EBC runs play and scores. ...read more

Tags: Action

Denomination: Baptist

Opportunity Definition, Ancient Greek Statue ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Nov 2, 2009

Opportunity Definition, Ancient Greek Statue Symbolism Our English word opportunity comes from the Latin and means “toward the port.” It suggests a ship taking advantage of the wind and tide to arrive safely in the harbor. The brevity of life is a strong argument for making the best use of the ...read more

Scripture: Ephesians 5:15-16

Tags: Opportunity

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Great Stone ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Feb 6, 2010

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Great Stone Face Perhaps some of you remember Nathaniel Hawthorne’s story about the great stone face. A little lad lived in a village where there was a mountain with a rock formation which they called the great stone face. The people had a legend that someday someone would ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Tags: Change

Trust The One Who Can See Over The ...

Contributed by Sermon Central on Apr 9, 2010

Trust the One Who Can See Over the Crowd In a time of fear and uncertainty, Jesus disciples were very careful to do exactly what He told them to do. and That’s what we must do if we want to survive and thrive in these days of fear and uncertainty. Anne Graham Lotz says that when she and her ...read more

Scripture: Proverbs 3:5-6

Tags: Trust

We Need Christ In Good Times And Bad

Contributed by Sermon Central on Mar 24, 2011

WE NEED CHRIST IN GOOD TIMES AND BAD Presbyterian minister of the 19th century, J. R. Miller, once wrote that "We need Christ just as much in our bright, prosperous, exalted hours as in the days of darkness, adversity, and depression. We are quite in danger of thinking that religion is only for ...read more

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22

Tags: Jesus Christ

The Love Me Not

Contributed by Sermon Central on May 11, 2011

THE LOVE ME NOT Dostoevsky tells the story of a woman who found herself in hell and felt she did not belong there. She could not bear the suffering and cried out in agony for the mercy of God. God listened and was moved with pity and so He said to her: "If you can remember one good deed that you ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:7

Tags: Mercy

Crossing Hypocrisy

Contributed by Jason Bonnicksen on May 15, 2011

CROSSING HYPOCRISY I remember one holiday sitting in the living room chatting with my in-laws, when the subject of high school reunions and old classmates came up. In the course of our conversation, my brother-in-law started laughing when he proceeded to tell us a story about one of his ...read more

Tags: Hypocrisy

Denomination: Lutheran

J. C. Ryle On Zeal  PRO

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 15, 2011

J. C. RYLE ON ZEAL Recently I found a book by Bishop J.C. Ryle, the first bishop of Liverpool, England on the subject of zeal. He wrote: "Zeal is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. A zealous man is preeminently a man of ...read more

Scripture: Romans 12:9-21, Romans 12:1-2

Tags: Zeal

Dwarfish Christianity

Contributed by Sermon Central on Aug 24, 2011

DWARFISH CHRISTIANITY Charles Spurgeon, the famed pastor of the Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle in London made this observation in the late 1800’s when he came in contact with a community of small framed men. "There was once in London a club of small men, whose qualification for membership lay in ...read more

Scripture: 1 Timothy 3:10-20, 1 Timothy 3:10-12

Tags: Growth In Christ

Death As Reward

Contributed by Brad Henry on Sep 15, 2011

DEATH AS REWARD I am reading a book that has changed a lot of the ways I think about things of God. One statement really got me. "Your life is free to be radical when you see death as your reward." The book “Radical” by David Platt. That’s it isn’t it? That is why we worry. Because we don’t see ...read more

Tags: Death

When Everything Crumbles

Contributed by David Dewitt on Sep 22, 2011

WHEN EVERYTHING CRUMBLES September 11th is one of those moments frozen in time. It is one of those moments that everyone remembers where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. When the first plane struck the tower at 8:45am, it was a moment that would reshape the fabric of ...read more

Tags: God Brings Hope

Denomination: Church Of God

The Power Of Silence

Contributed by Michael Deutsch on Jun 4, 2016

They say silence is golden – but is it possible that too much silence is not such a good thing? There’s a room in the United States that’s so quiet it becomes unbearable after a short time. The longest anyone has survived in the ‘anechoic chamber’ at Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis is ...read more

Scripture: John 10:4-5

Tags: Silence, Listening To God

Denomination: Baptist

Then The Judgment

Contributed by Terry Laughlin on Oct 6, 2017

The Bible holds a truth that is sure to be experienced by all who had lived before us, a truth for us all now and a truth for all who will live after us: - "...[mankind] is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) It is imperative, all of us must understand, now we ...read more

Tags: Judgment

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

When The First Ice Cream Cone Was Born

Contributed by Dr. Larry Petton on Aug 12, 2019

A lot gets accomplished when people work together. In the summer of 1904, at the World’s Fair in St. Louis, it was hot and people were searching for something to help cool them off. A vendor named Arnold had just what they were looking for……something called ice cream. People lined up for what ...read more

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:1-7

Tags: Unity, Working Together

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Humility

Contributed by Martin Spoelstra on Jun 27, 2021

The Western meaning of humility derives from the usage of the Hebrew speaking Jews, Latin speaking Romans and the Greeks, in particular Greek speaking Christians of the first century. In all three languages the word used to describe humility means "low", as in low to the ground: the ...read more

Scripture: Philippians 2:1-11

Tags: Service, Humility, Power

Denomination: Presbyterian/Reformed

Voice Of The Poor

Contributed by Rev. Duraimony Dickson on Jul 9, 2021

Sometimes in our lives, we wonder when God will send the angels to come and save us. There was a story last week that was published by a lot of magazines and daily newspapers. Stanislaus Lourduswamy, popularly known as Stan Swamy, was an Indian Roman Catholic priest, a member of the Jesuit order. ...read more

Scripture: Matthew 5:10

Tags: Voice Of Voiceless, Voice Of Poor

Denomination: Evangelical/Non-Denominational

Story From Eastern Europe

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Oct 21, 2025

Story: I would like to leave you with a story from Eastern Europe A man came into Court to give evidence, but he considered the Bible too holy to swear an oath on and so refused to do so. The lawyer for the defence approached the bench and asked for the man to be excused that formality, because ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:1-10

Tags: Judge, Piety, Lawyer

Denomination: Anglican

Boxes Of Chocalates

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Oct 24, 2025

A young man went into a Pharmacy to buy 3 boxes of chocolate: small, medium, and large. When the pharmacist asked him about the three boxes, he said, ... "Well, I'm going over to my new girlfriend's house for supper. Then we are going out for the evening. If she only lets me hold ...read more

Scripture: 2 Chronicles 16:12

Tags: Pharmacist, Chocolates

Denomination: Anglican

A Story From Eastern Europe

Contributed by Revd. Martin Dale on Oct 27, 2025

Story: I would like to leave you with a story from Eastern Europe A man came into Court to give evidence, but he considered the Bible too holy to swear an oath on and so refused to do so. The lawyer for the defence approached the bench and asked for the man to be excused that formality, because ...read more

Scripture: Luke 19:1-10

Tags: Holy, Rumor

Denomination: Anglican

The Book Of Judges Ends With These Words, "In ...  PRO

Contributed by Melvin Newland on Feb 26, 2001

The Book of Judges ends with these words, "In those days there was no king," no law. And because there was no law, "every man did what was right in his own sight." Can you imagine what a world like that would be? Just look at Los Angeles in 1992, or Miami in the 1980’s, or Watts in the 1960’s. ...read more

Tags: Commandments General

Denomination: Christian/Church Of Christ